Parking meter



` July 7, 1942.

C. A. TOCE ET AL PARKING METER Filed Aug. 16, 193'? 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 harlesFA Toce f ober-t .voussarmwvtw William Hzwoodr-uff jor/Vlmmona .J o hnoo n July 7, 1942.

C. A. TOCE ETL PARKING METER Filed Aug. 16, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Charle5A7Ge J Robe rl Broussard- Wi Hmm H Woodruff 97 l M0. OFNImmonS 3mm 0.2;70 .llMJornson 7; 5 \75 aE. 77 72 8o @615% Patented July 7, 1942 PARKING METER Charles A. Toce, Robert F. Broussard, James W. Johnson, William N. Woodrui, and Major S. Nimmons, Houston, Tex., assignors, by mesne assignments, to International Vehicular Parking, Ltd., Washington, D.'C., a corporation of Delaware Application August 16, 1937, Serial No. 159,354

15 Claims.

Our invention relates to parking meters which are employed along the streets of a city to register the time during which a car is parked at the curb.

It is an object of the invention to provide a coin controlled device which will be proof against tampering and which will indicate the time which elapses between the insertion of a coin up to the time when the period allowed for parking has expired.

-It is desired to indicate at any time what portion of the period has elapsed after the depositing of the coin up to the time when the predetermined period has expired and to further emphasize the expiration of such period by means of a semaphore or flag. I

The mechanism by means of which the device is actuated is constructed to obtain accuracy in starting and in the subsequent operation of the device during the period allowed for parking.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an operating mechanism which will function in a positive manner, and yet be simple and economical to construct and which will not easily get out of order.

The invention consists in the particular construction and arrangement of the parts whereby the objects above enumerated are accomplished. With reference to the drawings herewith:

Fig. l is a front elevation of a parking'meter showing how it is mounted at the curb.

Fig. 2`is a front view of the device showing the front wall of a housing and the coin inserting device removed.

Fig. 3 is a side View showing the mechanism in elevation and the housing in longitudinal section.

Fig. 4 is a broken sectional detail showing the manner in which the coin is held in the actuating slot.

Fig. "5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 but with the parts in different operating position.

Fig. 6 is a broken detail showing the operating-plate released from the clock actuated mechanism.

Fig. 7 is a transverse section through the housing and illustrating the mechanism in top plan view.

Fig. -8- is a broken detail showing the manner of operation of the semaphore.

Figs. 9, 10 and 11 are front, top and side views, respectively, of the coin handling device.

As will be noted from Fig. 1, the housing I of post 2, the base of which maybe mounted on the curbing'along the street. The housing has an upper transparent plate 3 thereon through which the semaphore may be seen. The lower portion has a window 4 through which the pointer and dial may be seen. On the forward side of the housing is a chamber 5 to receive the coin operating mechanism and a slot 6 to receive the coin is formed therein.

The operating mechanism within the housing (see Figure 3) is actuated by a clock, having thereon a spring motor l, which is connected to a shaft 8 and acts to rotate the gears 9 and I0 to communicate rotation to the shaft Il. In connection with the operation of vthe shaft, there is the usual escapement, illustrated more or less diagrammatically at I2. The structure of this clock device forms no part of the present invention.

The rotation oi the shaft II by the clock in a counterclockwise direction as seen in Fig. 2, causes the rotation therewith of a toothed wheel or disc I3, which is keyed to the shaft. Spaced from the toothed wheel I3 is a cam disc I4. This discis mounted upon the bushing shown at I5 in Fig. 2, said bushing being rotatable upon the shaft II. The connection by means of which the rotation of the toothed wheel I3 will cause the rotation of the cam disc I4 will be later described.

Mounted upon the bushing I5 and spaced forwardly from the cam disc I4 is an arm I6 shown best in Fig. 2. This arm serves as a coin receiving device andalso as a pointer. The arm has a coin receiving slot longitudinally thereof, the coin being dropped into said slot through the opening I'l by the coin handling device to be later explained. There is an opening I3 in the side of this arm through which the coin I9 may be seen. It will be understood that the coin may pass downwardly through this arm and discharge at the lower end thereof when released therefrom, as will be later described.

The arm I6 has an arcuate slot 20 therethrough to receive a pin 2| mounted -at the outer end of an arm 22 fixed to a shaft 23, and rotatable therewith. A spring 24, secured at 25 to the cam disc". tends to hold the arm 22 with the pin 2| at the right end of the slot 20, as seen in FIS. 2.

Mounted upon the shaft 23 is a laterally extending latch arm 26.V Said arm has a latching shoulder 21 thereon which is adapted to engage a laterally extending pin 28 in a lever arm 29. Said pin 28 is movable through a slotted opening 30 in the cam disc, the arm 23 being on the meter is intended to be supported upon a the opposite side of said disc from the arm 22.

The lever arm 29 is curved laterally at its lower end and is secured rigidly to a rotatable shaft 3| mounted in the cam disc I4.

Fixed upon the rotatable shaft 3| and spaced slightly away from arm 29 is a pawl 32. Said pavvlhas its outer end curved inwardly so that it can be engaged with the toothed outer nargin of the toothed wheel I3, and as will be noted from Fig. 2, when the pin 28 on the lever 29 is in latching engagement with the latch 26, the pawl 32 will be engaged with the toothed disc, thus latching the cam disc to the toothed disc in such-a manner that the two discs will rotate together. The pawl 32 is normally urged from engagement with and unlatched from the toothed disc by means of a spring 33, which is secured to the cam disc I4 at 34 at one end and at the other end to a short arm upon the ylever 29.

The outer end of the coin receiving arm I6 has thereon'- a pointer 36, which is positioned to move along a scale or dial 31, said scale being graduated for suitable time intervals. It is to be noted that the scale `31 is mounted upon the forward side in an arcuate coin receiving member which is secured by screws 38 to the frame 38 of the device. The dotted lines indicated at 39 show the lower side of the slot against which the coins are received from the lower'end of the arm I6, these walls being spaced at the lower end to provide an outlet 40 for the coin which may be received into the box 4 I.

The outer edge of the cam disc I4 has a camshaped recess 42 therein. Within said recess is normally positioned a roller 43 adjacent the end of an arm 44, upon which the roller is mounted. Said arm 44 is mounted upon a shaft 45 at the opposite side of the housing and is normally held downwardly at its free end by means of a spring 46, secured at 41 to the frame of the housing.

Connected at the end of the lever 44 is an upwardly extending arm 41, which, as shown in Fig. 8, has a longitudinal slot 48 therein to receive a pin 49 fixed upon the semaphore arm 50. The function of this arm will be later described.

Adjacent the upper side of the cam disc I4 is an arcuate arm 5I. This arm is xed at one end to a rotatable shaft 55. The curvature of the arm conforms to the curvaturev of the vmargin of the disc and the arm lies closely adjacent said disc. of the arm 5| is a frame 52, which serves as a mounting for the roller 53 riding'upon the margin of the disc I4. Thus the position of a roller 53 may be adjusted along the arcuate arm 5| through the screws 54 by means of which the frame 52 is secured to the arm.

Fixed upon the shaft 55 adjacent the arm 5I is an upwardly extending arm 58 which is curved to avoid the shaft and is extended upwardly along the semaphore. As will be noted from Fig. 3, a spring latch 51 is securedto the upper end of the arm, said last member being slidable laterally upon posts 58. There is a screw 59 extending through the latch arm, and a coiled spring 6|) on said screw serves to hold the latch arm resiliently against the arm 56. The upper end of the latch arm is curved to engage about the pin 6I upon the semaphore 58. This latch may be moved laterally and engage the pin 8| when the semaphore is rocked on its pivots 82 in a clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 3.

The semaphore is mounted to rock upon the pivots 62, which engage the upper end of posts 63, secured upon the bushings 64 which in turn are secured to the frame of the device. As will be Fixed adjustably upon the curved portion understood, the outer end of each arm of the semaphore is formed on the arc Qta circle and is colored so that when viewed through either of the Windows 3 the color displayed will indicate whe'ther or not the time has expired. YThe upper portion 65 on one of the arms is colored green and the lower portion 65' on the other arm is colored green, while the adjacent portions bf both arms are colored red. In the position of the semaphore shown in Fig. 3-the color green is exposed at both of the windows. The semaphore in the Fig. 3 position is latched, with the green colors showing by means of the engagement of the latch arm 51 with the pin 6|. It tends to be rocked into position with the red exposed at the window by means of a tension spring 66, secured to the arm of the semaphore at one end, and to the bushing 64 at the other end.

To move the actuating coin into position to drop within the passage I1 .in the arm I6 we have shown a specic mechanism. 'i'his mechanism is not a part ofA the present invention but forms part of that shown and described in the U. S. Patent No. 2,197,086 granted C. A. Toce etI al. on April 16, 1940, and entitled Coin-handling device and isillustratedmerely to fully disclose shaft 69 is thus rotated it will move the slotted I arm 91 upwardly so as to exert a resilient push upon the shaft 98. vSaid shaft 98 is connected at 99 to a bell crank lever |08, and the movement of this lever will exert a push upon a con-Y necting link 1|. The outer end of the link 1| is connected to a short arm 12 upon a sleeve 13, rota-table upon a post 14. The sleeve 13 has a laterally extending, and vertically slotted gate 15 thereon, the said gate being held in position against the stop arm 16, xed in the housing,

into the passage 19 of the gate 15, the said passage 19 being shown in Fig. 10, the coin then resting on the oor of the coin mechanism housing. When the gate is drawn into position beneath the chamber 10 to receive the coin it is latched momentarily in coin receiving position by means of a latching finger 88 on the end of the gate, engaging with a hook latch member 8| on the side of the housing and shown in Fig. 9. Thisy latch arm is urged upwardly into position to en gage the gate by means of a spring arm 82', mounted on the housing and bearing against said arm. Said arm 'is normally held downwardly out of latching position by means of a sliding latch 82, mounted on the side wall of the coin receiving slot and having a.l shoulder 83 at its lower end, engaging the arm 8|. This position of the latch arm 8| is due to the fact that arm 91 engages sliding latch 82 and holds such latch agencer 'gages the arm 2s itnot only limits the rotation in ,its lowermost position until a coin is intron r duced into the slot 8.

When a coin is inserted into the slot 8 the movement of the door El to raised position will, through means of the arm 9i on shaft 88, raise the rod 98 and by means oi the bell crank lever and the link 1i rotate the gate 1E into position below the chamber 18 in the housing and thus receive the coin. The gate which receives the coin will be latched momentarily in position but when the coin has dropped out of the chamber 13 into position within the gate the door 8l will be drawn back into closed position by spring 9i and thiswill release the remaining mechanism so as to nnlatch thegate 15 and swing it, together with the coin, around to the Fig. 10 position, thus allowing the coin to drop into the opening I1 in the slotted arm I6.

Within the slotted portion. I1 of the arm i6 we have provided means to control the passage of the coins. This means is shown in Figs. 4 and 5. On one side of the arm I6 is pivoted a hooked arm 64, the forward end 85 of which extends through an opening in the wall of the arm I6 so as to engage a coin passing through the slot-I1.

sion 86 which is connected by a link 81 with a similar arm or extension 88 so as to control a similar lever 84. which extends through the wall of the arm I6 to engage with a second coin. 'I'he forward end 85 of the arm 84 is inclined so l' that a coin inserted at the upper end of the slot,

as shown at 89 in Fig. 5, will engagel the end 85 and m'ove it outwardly and thus retract the arm -automatically move inward by gravity so as'to "stop the passage of the upper coin 89 and expose the coin to the view of the 'omcen- In the operation of this device a coin will be inserted by the operator as soon as the car is parked at the curb. The insertion vof a coin will operate the coin handling mechanism,previous ly described, to drop the coin within the upper opening in the slot I1 in the arm I6. Thecoin will drop by gravity and, in its passage downward to the position shown in Fig. 2 the coin will push the pin 2| in the slot 20 to the left hand position shown in Fig. 6 and thus release latch arm 26 from engagement with the pin 28 thus allowing the spring 33 to swing the arm 29 to the left of its position in Fig. 2 and into the Fig. 6 position. This will withdraw the pawl 32 from engagement with the toothed wheel I3 and the disc I4 will then be rotated in a clockwise direction, as seen in Fig. 2. This rotation is accomplished by means of a spring 9I, secured at 41 to the frame of the device and at 92 to the disc at a point spaced from the center of rotation. The movement of the disc will swing 4the pointer 36 on the dial to zero position and the roller 43 on the arm 44 will' drop into the cam recess 42'. The roller 53 will ride upon the outer margin of the disc I4 as shown in Fig. 2. The rotation of the of the cam disc but drops the arm 29 into the latched position shown-in Fig. 2.

With this latch in the relative position shown in Fig. 2 the clock will operate to rotate the toothed disc and through the connection therewill not affect the semaphore arm 58, as will be' `seen from Fig. 8.

'The cam disc I4 will be moved by the clock at the proper rate so that the roller 53 will drop into This arm 84 has an upwardly extending extenthe ca m recess 42 at the time the period isl to expire. If it is a sixty minute period. this roller 53 will be adjusted on the arm 5I to drop intothe recess 42 after the passage of sixty minutes. As the cam disc I4 is rotated to allow the roller 53 Vto drop into the cam recess the arm 5I will be moved downwardly as the rollerengages the recess, thus rotating the shaft 55 and moving the arm. 5 8 to the right of the position shown in Fig. 2 so as to move the upper Aend of the arm 58 away from its engagement with the pin 6I, as will be understood from Fig. 3. As the disengagement of the pin 6I fromthe latch arm 51 occurs the spring 66 will rock the semaphore arm on its shaft and expose the red portion of the semaphore to the window 3. The observer will therefore know, through the movement of the disc I4 under the action of the spring 9| will, by

semaphore, that the time is up and the position of the pointer 36 on the scale 31 will also indicate the expiration of the time.

Thev parts will remain inI this position with the red showing until another coin is inserted,- and it will be obvious that as the coin releases the connection between the cam disc I4 and the toothed discv I3 the spring 9| will spin the cam disc I4 back into thezero position. When this is done the roller 43 will drop into the recess 42 in the cam disc and a pull will be exerted upon the connecting arm 41 to rock the semaphore back into position with the pin 6I engaged beneath the hooked end ofthe spring arm 51, thus latching the semaphore in operating position with the green showing at the window 4.

It will be obvious thatthis device is not easily tampered with. The coin receiving slot in the mechanism is spaced away from the opening through which the coin is inserted so that the meter can be actuated only by the insertion of a proper coin. When the coin is inserted it will be plainly visible through the window 4, as will rget out of order, and a parking meter constructed in accordance with our invention will function for long periods of time without the necessity of attention.

It is the further advantage that the time allowed for the parking ofthe car at the curb can be noted with little difllculty. It will be understood that the roller 53 which actuates the movement of the semaphore can be adjusted along the arm 5I for periods ranging from a few minutes to a full hour by simply obtaining access to the screws 54 which allow the adjustment.

the perfomance thereof or their relation to each other exceptv insofar as is in accord with the claims appended hereto.

What is claimed is:

l. A housing, a clock rotatedshaft therein, a toothed disc fixed to said shaft, a 'cam disc mounted to rotate on said shaft, signal means operated by said cam disc, an arm on said shaft rotatable` with said cam disc, a coin receiving passage longitudinally of said arm, latch means to releasably latch said cam disc to said toothed disc to rotate therewith, a pointer on said arm, a graduated scale adjacent thereto, means operable by a coin to release said latch means, means to then rotate said cam disc and said pointer to zero position, andmeans to reset the latch means.

2. A meter housing, a clock rotated shaft mounted therein, a cam disc mounted rotatably on said shaft, a signall operated by said cam disc, a pointer arm rotatable with said disc, al

coin slot longitudinally of said arm, means operatively connecting said disc to said shaft, a graduated scale adjacent the end of said pointer arm, means actuated by a coin in said slot to release said rst mentioned means, means to then spin said cam disc on said shaft to place said coin into said passage, means responsive to the mentioned means to again connect said indicator to said shaft when the indicator reaches such A initial operating position.

7. A time controlled shaft, a pointer arm on said Ashaft and releasably connected thereto, a

movement of said cointo release said firstmentioned means, and means to then move saidv pointer to zero on said scale.Y

l4. A meter housing, a clock rotated shaft therein, Van arm rotatable on said shaft, a passage longitudinally of saidvarm to allowfpassag scale adjacent thereto, means to operatively connect said yarm to vsaid shaft, means toL deliver a kcoin into said, passage, means responsive to the movement ov'fsaid coin to release said first-mentioned means, means to then Amove said pointer s with respect Lto'said yshaft to a zero position on shaft. v Y

5. `A parking meter including a housing, a time controlled .shaft rotating therein, an indicator` rotatable on vsaid shaft, means to operativelyl connect said indicator to said shaft to move it therewith at timing rate, means to receive a; coin,

of a'coin, aipointer. onesaid arm, a vgraduated scale adjacent the end of said arm, a coin receiving passage in said arm, means to deliver a coin to said passage, means actuated bya coin in said passage to release said arm for'movement with respect to the shaft, means to then rotate said arm on said shaft to a pre-determined initial position, means actuating said second-mentioned means upon said arm reaching the initial position to releasably fix said arm to said shaft. and means to retain said coin in said passage and then release said coin upon insertion of another coin. i

8. A meter housing, a time controlled shaft rotating therein, a cam disc rotatable on said shaft, a cam notch in the margin of said disc, means to operatively connect said disc to said shaft, an arcuate'lev'er adjacent the margin of said disc, a roller mounted on said lever to ride on said disc as said disc is rotated, means holding said lever with said roller' resiliently against said disc, said roller being adapted in a predetermined time to engage said notch and permit movement of said lever, a semaphore, an arm on said lever normally holding said semaphore in an `restraining means and release said semaphore for movement to said indicating position.

10. A meter housing, a time controlled shaft mounted rotatably therein, a cam .disc mounted rotatably on said shaft, releasable means con` necting said disc to said shaft, a semaphore,

means normally urging said semaphore to an indicating position means restraining the semax phore for -movement by said lastk mentioned means actuated by said coin to, release the con nection between the, indicator and shaft, and f means to then move said indicator to a predetermined initial operating position and re-engage indicator and shaft. i .f

"6. A parking meter including a housing. a time controlled shaft. rotating therein, an indicator rotatable on said shaft, means to operatively connect said indicator to said shaft to move it therewith at -ltiming rate, means to receive a coin, means actuated vby said coin to operate said iirstmentioned means so as to Vdisconnect the indimeans, a lever, a roller on said lever, means to hold said roller resiliently against the margin of said disc, arecess in said disc t0 receive'said rollo movedv to indicating position.

`11. A meterY housing, a c arn disc having a marginal notch therein,'means to rotate said disc in .one direction at a .predetermined timing '.rate, a

. pointer arm movable with said disc, a graduated scale adjacent saidpointer arm, a semaphore maintained in one position during movement of said disc,means operative in response to contact .with the notch yof said disc to move the semaphore to another position, coin controlled means to release said disc from said rotating means, means to then reverse the direction of rotation of said disc to bring it to zero position, means to move said semaphore to said first-mentioned signal position, and means to then reengage the disc with said rotating means.

12. In -a parking meter, in combination, a. semaphore mounted to rock from idle to operating position, means urging the same into operating position, a time controlled cam discv having a notch therein, a latch lever with a roller thereon bearing resiliently on the margin 0f said disc, a pull lever having a roller thereon also bearing resiliently on the margin'of the disc, a latch arm on said latch lever engaging said semaphore to retain it in idle position during timing rotation of said cam disc and release the same for movement into operating position upon the latch arm roller dropping into the notch on said disc, and a pull arm on said pull lever engaging said semaphore to pull the same back into idle position upon rotating said disc to such position that said pull lever roller drops into the notch therein.

13. In a parking meter, in combination, timing mechanism, an arm adapted to be operatively connected thereto and moved at timing rate thereby, means on said arm for supporting an actuatingA coin for viewing by an observer throughout movement of the arm at timing rate, and means for disconnecting and then reconnecting said 'arm and timing mechanism upon depositing an actuating coin or token in said coin supporting means.

14. In a parking meter, in combination, timing mechanism, an arm adapted to be operatively connected thereto and moved -at timing rate thereby, means for accepting and transferring an operating coin or token from initial receiving position to a position spaced from said receiving position and at a substantial angle thereto, means controlled by the transferred coin to disconnect said arm and mechanism and restore the arm to initial timing position, and means to reconnect arm and timing mechanism upon the arm reaching such initial timing position.

15. In a parking meter, in combination, timing mechanism, indicating means connected thereto and moved at timing rate thereby, semaphore means for signalling timing movement of said indicating means, means for actuating said semaphore means to show a substantial conclusion of such timing movement upon said indicating means reaching a prescribed point, means releasing said indicating means from said timing mechanism and resetting the indicating means to an initial operating vposition and then reconnecting the indicating means and timing mechanism upon initiating operation ofthe parking meter, and means for `restoring said semaphore means to a position signalling timing movement of said arm upon resetting the indicator to initial posicion.

CHARLES A. TOGE. ROBERT F. BROUSSARD. JAMES W. JOHNSON. WILLIAM N. WOODRUFF. MAJOR S. NIMIMONS. 

